This invention generally relates to electrical contacts, and particularly to quick disconnect tab-type terminals for printed circuit boards.
Many designs have been proposed for quick disconnect terminals for printed circuit (P.C.) boards. Such terminals are typically inserted into pre-drilled holes in printed circuit boards, molded ceramic and plastic or metal housings. In some instances the designes have resulted in a substantial cost to the manufacturers of the terminals and in some cases the preparations of the printed circuit boards to receive the terminal have likewise been expensive and cumbersome.
One common type of quick disconnect tab P.C. boards, such as a male quick disconnect tab, includes two generally parallel mounting legs which are intended to be received within two spaced holes which are pre-drilled in the P.C. board. Such tabs are described on page 35 of Catalog 29, published by the assignee of the subject application. Although male tabs or contacts are normally made of a relatively thick stock metal, typically 0.032", the mounting legs have a generally small cross-sectional area and are the weakest part of the tab and the most likely to bend in response to forces applied to the planar or flat surfaces of the tab.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,358, a terminal tab for mounting on a circuit board is described which includes a central mounting leg intended to be passed through a pre-drilled hole in the board and a pair of stabilizing arms on each side of the mounting leg which extend in opposite directions and which are normal to the plane of the tab. These stabilizing arms are produced by bending lateral or side extensions on the blank forming the terminal, in opposite directions to create the stabilizing surfaces on each arm which bear against the surface of the circuit board on which the tab is mounted. However, the aforementioned construction requires additional metal on each side of the tab to create the stabilizing arms as well as additional metal on the top of the tab for the carrier strip if the part is made in chain or strip form. Additionally, since the stabilizing arms project outwardly from the tab, the tab occupies additional surface area or space on the board, a commodity which is at a premium on densely packed boards.
Another known construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,672 for a double-ended connector for a terminal board. However, the connector is provided with two spaced pairs of outwardly projecting ears for receiving the P.C. board therebetween with one pair of ears on each side of the board for locking the connector in relation to the board. The ears are not intended nor do they provide any meaningful stability. As with the above-described prior art construction, the connector also requires additional material and space on the P.C. board. Since this construction, as well, requires lateral projections it is unnecesarily more costly to manufacture.